U.S. patent number 6,972,963 [Application Number 10/710,345] was granted by the patent office on 2005-12-06 for electronic apparatus having structure for protecting flexible printed circuit and chip thereon.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Chunghwa Picture Tubes. Invention is credited to Pin-Hung Chou.
United States Patent |
6,972,963 |
Chou |
December 6, 2005 |
Electronic apparatus having structure for protecting flexible
printed circuit and chip thereon
Abstract
An electronic apparatus having a structure for protecting a
flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a chip thereon is described,
including a metal backplate, a first circuit and a second circuit
respectively on the front side and the back side of the backplate,
a metal frame plate at the periphery of the backplate, at least one
FPC with at least one chip thereon, a metal screen plate, and at
least one insulating elastic ring disposed around the FPC. The FPC
has a first end connected to the first circuit and a second end
connected to the second circuit over the frame plate, and the
screen plate is disposed on the frame plate screening the FPC and
the chip. The inner periphery of the insulating elastic ring
closely contacts with the chip, and the outer periphery of the ring
closely contacts with the frame plate and the screen plate.
Inventors: |
Chou; Pin-Hung (Taipei,
TW) |
Assignee: |
Chunghwa Picture Tubes (Taipei,
TW)
|
Family
ID: |
35430493 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/710,345 |
Filed: |
July 2, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
361/760; 174/252;
174/254; 174/359; 257/E23.065; 257/E23.194; 349/150; 361/679.4;
361/749; 361/752; 361/800 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L
23/4985 (20130101); H01L 23/562 (20130101); H01L
2924/0002 (20130101); H01L 2924/0002 (20130101); H01L
2924/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H05K 007/02 ();
H05K 007/20 (); H05K 001/18 (); G02F
001/1339 () |
Field of
Search: |
;361/728,749,752,800,807-810,816,817,720,712-715,760,767,785,789,796,799,681,687,748,719
;174/35R,35GC,35MS,198,254,252,52.1,50.6,50.63 ;349/58,150 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Cuneo; Kamand
Assistant Examiner: Levi; Dameon E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Jianq Chyun IP Office
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electronic apparatus having a structure for protecting a
flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a chip thereon, comprising: a
backplate; a first circuit, disposed on a front side of the
backplate; a second circuit, disposed on a back side of the
backplate; a frame plate, disposed at a periphery of the backplate;
at least one FPC with at least one chip thereon, having a first end
connected to the first circuit and a second end connected to the
second circuit over the frame plate; a screen plate, disposed on
the frame plate screening the FPC and the chip; and at least one
insulating elastic ring disposed around the FPC, wherein an inner
periphery of the ring closely contacts with the chip and an outer
periphery of the ring closely contacts with the frame plate and the
screen plate.
2. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the FPC has a
length exactly allowing the second end thereof to be bent to the
back side of the backplate to connect with the second circuit, so
that the outer periphery of the insulating elastic ring can closely
contact with the frame plate.
3. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein a central hole of
the insulating elastic ring at a relaxed state has a size such that
the ring is slightly expanded as being disposed around the FPC.
4. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the insulating
elastic ring comprises cured silicone rubber.
5. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, which is a plasma
display.
6. The electronic apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first circuit
comprises an electrode circuit on a display panel of the plasma
display.
7. The electronic apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second circuit
comprises a driving circuit of the plasma display.
8. The electronic apparatus of claim 7, wherein the FPC has a
length exactly allowing the second end thereof to be bent to the
back side of the backplate to connect with the driving circuit, so
that the outer periphery of the insulating elastic ring can closely
contact with the frame plate.
9. The electronic apparatus of claim 7, wherein the chip comprises
a driving chip.
10. The electronic apparatus of claim 5, wherein a central hole of
the insulating elastic ring at a relaxed state has a size such that
the ring is slightly expanded as being disposed around the FPC.
11. The electronic apparatus of claim 5, wherein the insulating
elastic ring comprises cured silicone rubber.
Description
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus. More
particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic
apparatus that has a structure for protecting a flexible printed
circuit (FPC) in the electronic apparatus and a chip on the
FPC.
2. Description of the Related Art
FPC is widely used in various electronic apparatuses, especially in
planar displays like liquid-crystal display (LCD), plasma display
and organic electro-luminescence display (OELD), to facilitate
their fabrication. Referring to FIG. 1, in a fabricating process of
a conventional plasma display, one end of each of several flexible
printed circuits 11 is connected to corresponding control
electrodes on the front or back substrate of a display panel 10.
The display panel 10 is then fixed onto a metal backplate 12, which
is disposed with a metal frame plate 121 at its periphery. Each FPC
11 is bent over the frame plate 121, so that the other end thereof
can be connected to an insertion-type connector 131 on a
control/driving circuit board 13 on the back side of the backplate
12.
Before a FPC 11 is bent over the frame plate 121, a thermally
conductive silicone rubber pad 141 is pasted to the frame plate 121
facing the FPC 11. After the other end of each FPC 11 is connected
to the control circuit board 13, another thermally conductive
silicone rubber pad 142 is pasted to the outer peripheries of the
FPCs 11 in a position corresponding to the silicone rubber pad 141.
Thereafter, a metal screen plate 15 is fixed onto the frame plate
121 from the outer side of the thermally conductive silicone rubber
pad 142.
Referring to FIG. 1 again, the metal screen plate 15 is for
screening the FPCs 11 and the driving chips 111 thereon to protect
them from electromagnetic interference, scratches and collision.
Meanwhile, the thermally conductive silicone rubber pads 141 and
142 between the frame plate 121 and the screen plate 15 can conduct
the heat generated by the driving chips 111 to the frame plate 121
and the screen plate 15. The silicone rubber pads 141 and 142 also
have insulating and damping effect, so that the FPCs 11 and the
driving chips 111 can be insulated from the frame plate 121 and the
screen plate 15 and protected from rubbing against or colliding
with the latter.
Nevertheless, the silicone rubber pad 141/142 is made from a
semi-cured material, such as, catalized silicone rubber, that is
quite expensive. Meanwhile, the silicone rubber pad 141/142 must
have a length equal to the width (or length) of the display panel
10 and a certain thickness for intimately contacting with the frame
plate 121, the driving chips 111 and the screen plate 15 to effect
the thermal conduction. Moreover, in the assembling process, the
operator must precisely paste the silicone rubber pads 141 and 142
to predetermined locations in accurate sequence, so as to effect
the thermal conduction between the driving chips 111 and the frame
plate 121/screen plate 15. Therefore, the assembling process of
conventional plasma display is quite complicated, and the product
easily fails due to negligence of the operator.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides an
electronic apparatus that has a structure for protecting a FPC and
a chip thereon. The protective structure cab be easily installed to
the electronic apparatus to provide thermal conductivity and
insulating/damping effect, and can be made at a reduced cost.
Another object of this invention is to provide a plasma display
that has a structure for protecting a FPC therein and a chip on the
FPC and for dissipating the heat generated by the chip.
The electronic apparatus of this invention includes a backplate, a
first circuit and a second circuit respectively on the front side
and the back side of the backplate, a frame plate, at least one
flexible printed circuit (FPC) with at least one chip thereon, at
least one insulating elastic ring and a screen plate. The frame
plate is disposed at the periphery of the backplate. The FPC has a
first end connected to the first circuit and a second end to the
second circuit over the frame plate. The screen plate is disposed
on the frame plate screening the FPC and the chip thereon. The
insulating elastic ring is disposed around the FPC, while the inner
periphery of the ring closely contacts with the chip and the outer
periphery of the ring closely contacts with the frame plate and the
screen plate.
In the electronic apparatus of this invention, the central hole of
the insulating elastic ring at a relaxed state preferably has a
size such that the ring is slightly expanded as being disposed
around the FPC and therefore closely contacts with the chip on the
FPC due to its elasticity. Moreover, the FPC preferably has a
length exactly allowing the second end thereof to be bent to the
back side of the backplate to connect with the second circuit, so
that the outer periphery of the insulating elastic ring can closely
contact with the frame plate.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the electronic
apparatus is a plasma display, the first circuit is the electrode
circuit of the display panel of the plasma display, and the second
circuit is a driving circuit of the plasma display. At least one
FPC is disposed at the periphery of the electrode circuit, wherein
each FPC is disposed with at least one driving chip of the plasma
display thereon.
As mentioned above, the inner periphery of the insulating elastic
ring disposed around the FPC closely contacts with the chip, and
the outer periphery of the ring closely contact with the frame
plate and the screen plate. Therefore, the thermal conductivity
between the chip and the frame/screen plate is good. Since such
good thermal conductivity is achieved merely by disposing an
insulating elastic ring around each FPC, the fabricating process of
the electronic apparatus can be simplified.
Moreover, since the insulating elastic ring has a size such that it
is slightly expanded as being disposed around the FPC, the
insulating elastic ring can closely contact with the chip due to
its elasticity. Therefore, the insulating elastic ring can be made
thinner than the conventional thermally conductive silicone rubber
pad from a cured material, such as, cured silicone rubber, that is
cheaper than the semi-cured materials used in the prior art.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description
and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are
intended to provide further explanation of the invention as
claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further
understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate
embodiments of the invention and, together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the invention.
FIG. 1 illustrates an assembling process of a conventional plasma
display in an exploded view.
FIG. 2 illustrates an assembling process of a plasma display
according to a preferred embodiment of this invention in an
exploded view.
FIG. 3 illustrates a part of the plasma display according to the
preferred embodiment of this invention, showing particularly the
arrangement of the insulating elastic ring and other parts around
it.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the plasma display according to the
preferred embodiment includes a display panel 20 consisting of a
front substrate and a back substrate. The common electrode and the
scan electrodes of the display panel 20 are disposed on peripheral
portions of the front substrate, and the data electrodes of the PDP
20 on the periphery portion of the back substrate. The electrodes
on the display panel 20 are connected with one end of each of
several flexible printed circuits 21, wherein each FPC 21 has a
driving chip 211 thereon. Meanwhile, a metal backplate 22 is
provided with a metal frame plate 221 disposed at the periphery
thereof.
When the display panel 20 is disposed onto the front side of the
metal backplate 22, each FPC 21 is right at the periphery of the
backplate 22, and an insulating elastic ring 23 can be disposed
around each FPC 21 from the other end of the FPC 21. The central
hole 231 of the insulating elastic ring 23 at a relaxed state
preferably has a size such that the ring 23 is slightly expanded as
being disposed around the FPC 21 and therefore closely contacts
with the chip 211 on the FPC 21 due to its elasticity. After the
other end of each FPC 21 is connected to the back side of the metal
backplate 22, a metal screen plate 25 is fixed onto the metal frame
plate 221 screening the FPC 21 and the chip 211 thereon. The metal
screen plate 25 is pressed onto the outer periphery of the
insulating elastic ring 23.
Referring to FIG. 3, each FPC 21 preferably has a length exactly
allowing the other end thereof to be bent to the back side of the
metal backplate 22 to connect with a corresponding insertion-type
connector 241 of the driving circuit 24 on the back side. Thereby,
the outer periphery of the insulating elastic ring 23 facing the
backplate 22 can closely contact with the frame plate 221 at the
periphery of the backplate 22. The metal screen plate 25 is capable
of screening the FPC 21 and the driving chip 211 thereon to protect
them from electromagnetic interference and to prevent them from
being damaged by scratches or collision.
Since the insulating elastic ring 23 can closely contact with the
chip 211 on the FPC 21 due to its elasticity, the thickness of the
ring 23 can be smaller than that of the conventional thermally
conductive silicone rubber pad. Meanwhile, the insulating elastic
ring 23 can be made from a cured material, such as, cured silicone
rubber, that is cheaper than the semi-cured materials used in the
prior art. Moreover, the distance between the frame plate 221 and
the screen plate 25 can be further reduced, so that the insulating
elastic ring 23 can contact with the driving chip 211, the metal
frame plate 221 and the metal screen plate 25 more closely.
Thereby, the thermal conductivity between the above parts can be
further improved, and the heat generated from the chip 211 can be
dissipated more rapidly to increase the lifetime of the chip 211
and the plasma display.
Furthermore, since an insulating elastic ring 23 can be easily and
rapidly disposed around each FPC 21 without any complicated
positioning operation and assembling sequence, the fabrication of
the plasma display can be simplified to improve the product yield.
In addition, since the insulating elastic ring 23 can be made
thinner than the conventional silicone rubber pad, the distance
between the frame plate 221 and the screen plate 25 can be further
reduced to decrease the size of plasma display.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the
present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the
invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the
present invention covers modifications and variations of this
invention provided they fall within the scope of the following
claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *